I was a vegan for almost a year and loved it, and I firmly believe vegan is suburb for our bodies. But there was a problem- I gained 15lbs! So for the last 3 months I've been a carnivore and eating low carb. I felt better for a while and my stomach wasn't feeling so bloated from all the carbs. But yesterday I was eating chicken on my salad and just almost hurled. I can't do it anymore- I don't like meat anymore and have been almost forcing myself to eat it. So today I'm just going back to my old ways, but my stomach is bloated again and I feel like I've gained 10lbs. It's so frustrating b/c an Atkin's-type diet makes me feel skinny and lean and curbs my hunger, but I'm really against it... and veggie diets make my stomach feel huge, bloated, and hungry. I feel like I can never stop eating without the animal products. (keep in mind when I gained the 15lbs my calorie intake didn't change from carnivore to veggie).

Now, I also have insulin issues b/c of PCOS, so that's why I feel so good on an Atkin's type diet. But I'm starting to read some info on how diets based on whole grains are actually BETTER at regulating insulin than meat/dairy diets. But I'm very hungry as a vegan and like I said, my stomach feels bloated.

All you girls who are successfully losing weight as veggie/vegans... what are you eating? Have you ever had any of these problems?

Thanks!

Hi Michelle.. I've had success loosing weight as a vegan. I lost about 120 lbs, but since have gained back about 60, so thats why I'm back here. The bloat may be from the veggies if you are gettin to much gassy veggies..The trick is to make sure that you are getting enough protein and still staying away from the carbs. It takes a lot of planning to get to intake right.. I am always needing to add more protein in my meals. Try to make sure that you have some type of soy or micorprotein in every meal you eat and stay away from the carbs.

I have PCOS as well. What have you been eating? I actually don't eat a lot of grains.

I do eat a lot of beans, veggies and fruit.

Beans, beans & more beans!! I too have insulin issues and beans have been my main food because of the high fiber & protein content. Quinoa is great too and very versatile.

My newest find is soybean pasta from Nutrition Kitchen. One serving has only 210 calories but 11g of fiber and a whopping 23g of protein. It also contains 70% of your daily value of iron.

I am vegan and eating very low carb. It's working really well for me!

It would help if you could tell us what you're generally eating? Perhaps there are particular vegetables that make you gassy, happens to some people.

You might also want to try getting some soy yogurt into your diet every day, the bacterial cultures can help you build healthy intestineal fauna that can aid digestion. I get unsweetened yogurt and use a few drops of stevia extract and some fruit for sweetness, so there's no added processed sugar in it.

Fruit is about the easiest thing for your body to digest. I eat about 3 or 4 pieces of fruit throughout the day, I feel like it helps me keep my energy going and keeps hunger away. Other than that, I make sure I get some fresh salad greens every day, whole grains (quinoa is great!), nuts/seeds, beans, and usually some cooked veggies as well.

Though I've only been fully vegan for a couple months, I lost all of the weight so far (about 40 pounds) on a vegetarian/very nearly vegan diet. I'm sure you can make it work for you too!

I have found that the trick for me is to just obey my normal inclination towards the fruits and veggies that I so adore. I, too, have major issues with breads and pastas and have always had to be very careful with my intake. Every once in a blue moon I go for some Ezekiel sprouted bread, but even that is a trigger if I'm not careful. I love lentils (so versatile!), but they irritate my stomach so I have to watch that as well. I'm also working on limiting my soy, but I LOVE edamame and I make casseroles using Morningstar Meal Starters for DF, which he loves.

So, it's pretty much me and my green smoothies, which is fine with me

Actually, I do love black beans and homemade soups and stirfry and my salads will always be a part of my diet (I just got my first salad spinner. Where has it been all my life?)

Also, I have been eating wild rice regularly, which surprisingly isn't a trigger for me, but very delicious.

omg, i LOVE that pasta! I even got my meat-loving boyfriend hooked! But its so hard to find

I have pcos also and am trying to go vegan.

A lot of veggies will make you very gassy, so although the scale went up, your body fat didn't necessarily go up. The Flat Belly Diet bases it's huge up front weight loss on water weight and gassy foods.

Carbs also cause glycogen production, which collects water for storage around the stomach. So the change from low carb to moderate carb is definitely noticeable!

It's possible you might have added too much fiber at once. Have you counted that lately? A high fiber diet (beans, fruits and veggies are blushing and waving at us all right now) can be a shock to the system if it's introduced quickly. I think if you cut back on your simple carbs and maybe use Bean-o, that would make a big difference. Other Flat Belly diet tricks are to walk after eating to help release trapped air (I have no idea if that works, it's just what I read) and cutting out raw veggies and fruit. Maybe if you cut back on some of these things and then slowly introduce them back in, things will even out for you. Good luck!

PS, I also have PCOS. I felt good on low carb, but I felt better as a low glycemic vegetarian!

I have been vegetarian since last june and vegan since the beginning of this year.

I lost about 15lbs from june to jan and then since jan I have lost about 14lbs....so its been quite slow.

I am beginning to wonder if I have a gluten/wheat sensitivity. I would recommend you look into that as well. I would only be guessing that when you cut meat out of your diet you might be consuming more breads/pastas/tortillas etc. This can lead to weight gain .....gluten issues are more commonly know to make persons lose weight however weight gain is a sign too. I encourage you to look this up and see if you are having other signs of gluten...or any other food intolerance.

When you have a sensitivity to food your body swell up with gas, water, hold on to fat etc. which could explain the weight gain.

Just a theroy...